A three-year-old boy will lead the Wycombe Wanderers team out this weekend following recent successful heart surgery.

Corey Jeavons will be joined by his older brother Callum, and their mother and father, Ross and Katie, for the lunchtime clash against Barnsley at Adams Park on October 4.

The brave youngster was born with TOF/OA (Tracheoesophageal Fistula or Oesophageal Atresia), which is an incredibly rare condition that prevents babies from swallowing, with the condition impacting just 180 children in the UK each year.

The condition is caused by an abnormal connection between the windpipe and the food pipe, alongside a defect where the food pipe itself doesn’t connect to the stomach.

Speaking on Corey’s bravery and journey since his birth in February 2022, dad Ross said: “He had his first surgery within a day of birth to attempt to attach his oesophagus to his stomach - sadly, this failed.

“Two weeks later, surgeons tried again, battling for 12 long hours, but once more the outcome was the same. In Corey’s case, the rarer “long gap” in the middle of the two ends of his oesophagus was too wide to bridge.

“That left us with little choice but to opt for an even more invasive surgical procedure – the gastric pull-up – which would see our little boy’s stomach turned into a tube and pulled into his neck, as a less-than-ideal substitute for the oesophagus.

“Such a surgery required him to go home, grow and build up strength.

“So when we finally took our baby home, it was with a hole in the neck known as an “oesophagostomy,” meaning anything he swallowed would pool out onto his skin rather than disappearing into his chest.

“It seems crazy to say, but we lived like that for months before returning for another major operation in September that year.”

The lifelong Wanderers fan explained that ‘one of our worst fears came to pass’ this year, when it was revealed that ‘around half of babies born with Corey’s condition also suffer from other abnormalities.’

This led to the discovery of a growth on his aortic valve, which was causing heart problems.

He continued: “The terrifying prospect of open-heart surgery was here, and it was very real.

“It’s difficult to describe the torture a parent goes through while your beautiful child lies in theatre.

“Seconds tick by agonisingly.

“Mentally, we were traumatised by his failed surgical repair in those early months, where long delays in the operating theatre had signalled something was clearly not right.

“After nearly seven hours, Corey emerged, and the procedure was a success.

"Naturally, that wasn’t the end of it.

“A slow and difficult recovery began in intensive care, where we watched our little ball of energy suffer awful hallucinations as he was gradually weaned off a cocktail of surgical drugs.

“Every day brought blood tests, scans, pokes and prods – all beyond the comprehension of an innocent kid who just wanted to go home.”

And that he did, with Corey returning home at the end of September.

On the day of the courageous three-year-old being mascot, items such as signed shirts, signed copies of FC 26, a Wanderers football, four tickets to a Wycombe home game, and a mascot experience day are all being raffled off in aid of tofs.org.uk – the charity that helped Corey during his time of need.

For more information, visit the Wycombe Wanderers website.